Cheers to the student and adult members of the Crookston High School Drama Department. In a time when sports, jobs, homework, family time and many more responsibilities lead to an overall hectic lifestyle, these individuals choose to give of their time and talents to the arts.

At a recent rehearsal of their springtime production of the play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder, everyone showed extensive enthusiasm for the monumental task at hand. Students offered each other support when lines were forgotten and a pat on the back when a scene went well. Directors Beth Carlson and Joyce Johnson shared constructive criticism, which was taken in stride by the student actors. This clearly demonstrated their trust in one another and mutual respect. It was refreshing to see so many perceived stereotypes about "rude teenagers" put to rest.

Performances of "Our Town" will be held April 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the CHS auditorium. Tickets can be purchased from cast members, Montague's Flower Shop, or at the door.

– Jaime Jensen

Jeers to glorifying the bad guys

Jeers to Hollywood for creating shows that center around the bad guys rather than the good guys. It seems as if many networks have gone on the wayside in terms of scripted television shows. The majority of scripted shows today seem to fall in the category of dirty comedies and crime dramas. In the past few years or so, the rising trend is the show that has a killer as the main character.

CBS' "Dexter" is a prime example. It's a show about a serial killer that aides in solving crimes while still murdering. Well, now there are a couple of new shows that have killers as main characters, "Hannibal" and "The Bates Hotel." The first is about Hannibal Lecter, and premieres next week on NBC. The second is about a young Norman Bates before he's a killer and focuses on events leading up to him becoming a killer. It's currently on A&E.

Does there really need to be shows like this on TV in a world where reality is scary enough? Most people want to escape that, which is why shows like ABC's fantasy drama "Once Upon a Time" and BBC's period drama "Downton Abbey" are doing well.